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Report: Memphis has made 'extraordinary' offer to keep coach Fuente
Memphis is digging deep to try to retain coach Justin Fuente, whose name has been brought up early and often in regard to various vacant coaching jobs around college football.
Athletic director Tom Bowen told the Memphis Commercial Appeal on Friday that the school made an "extraordinary" offer to Fuente earlier this season, prior to Memphis' upset win over Ole Miss. While Bowen did not provide specifics, a source told the Commercial Appeal that the contract offer, if accepted, would make Fuente the highest-paid non-Power 5 conference coach in the country.
"I love coach Fuente, and we’ve been working tirelessly to make sure we can keep him,” Bowen said. "We made him an extraordinary offer to make sure he’s going to be the coach of the University of Memphis for a very long time."
Fuente, who has the Tigers at 8-2 and 21st in the College Football Playoff rankings, signed a five-year extension last year and is making $1.4 million annually.
In regard to the contract offer, Fuente said that he has not officially responded to Bowen but offered the following statement:
“I was sincerely humbled by the university’s offer to step up. In addition, this administration realizes how important the staff is to me and is trying to step up substantially for our coaching staff. ...
“My representatives have been in contact since this offer several times with the administration. We haven’t signed it yet, but we’re honored to get it."
Cincinnati's Tommy Tuberville is the highest-paid non-Power 5 coach in the country, with a salary of $2.2 million annually. However, Houston reportedly has offered first-year coach Tom Herman -- perhaps the only hotter coach in the country right now than Fuente -- $3 million a year to stay with the Cougars amid rumors that he is the favorite for the South Carolina job.
The Commercial Appeal cited a source as saying that the offer for Fuente is $2.5 million a year as well as a larger pool for assistant coaches.
Fuente, in his fourth season at Memphis, is 25-22 overall. The Tigers had gone 3-21 in the two seasons prior to Fuente's arrival from TCU, where he served as co-offensive coordinator.
